Stronger Than Time
by BroadwaybabySM
Summary: Ali: A modern day college student trying to get through her junior year without failing miserably. Merlin: a servant of Camelot in posession of a dangerous secret. When Ali falls through time into Camelot what will Merlin think? Will Merlin's powers be revealed? Will Morgana be defeated? Will Ali pass her class? Life is a mystery in Camelot, but adventure definitely abounds!
1. Prologue

**A/N: I really don't love long author's notes...I don't see the point. You are here to read the story, not my note. Thanks for reading though. I hope you like it. Oh and blah, blah, blah I obviously do not own Merlin.**

PROLOGUE

The dark clouds swirled around the towers of the majestic castle, casting an imposing shadow on the once beautiful city below. The world was being overcome by chaos and destruction. Rubble was scattered across the village, blood stained the streets, and piercing cries filled the air. The calm kingdom from mere days earlier was gone, replaced by a nightmare. Lightning struck a bale of hay, creating a fire in the courtyard and sending the people that were huddled there for safety screaming in all directions.

"You cannot stop me!" A low female voice boomed dangerously. It seemed to be amplified in some way and caused the whole city to rumble and shake, leaving even more destruction in its wake. "I will kill, until I have received what I came for. Give me the throne or your people will continue to die one by one!" A piercing shriek of agony filled the ears of all of those in the vicinity. They turned to witness a woman writhing in pain on the ground begging for it to stop. A dark-haired man knelt next to her, and put his hand on her shoulders, attempting to force the woman to hold still. He looked into her eyes and his own eyes glowed with a golden tint. The woman calmed down and simply laid on the ground breathing heavily, attempting to pull herself together.

The man gently touched the woman's hair soothingly, before standing and looking toward the sky with anger evident in his countenance. His voice, amplified just like the female's then rang through the city. "Morgana, you are not like this. Please, stop taking innocent lives. These people have done nothing to you! I beg of you, leave them be."

"Oh, how sweet, the King's trusted servant attempts to save his lord's kingdom. Well, Servant, you two will not win this battle. I will have my throne." Morgana responded with passion, as another bolt of lightning struck the ground at Merlin's feet. A blonde man grabbed Merlin's arm and pulled him away as another bolt struck the exact place Merlin had been standing the moment before.

"Have you seen Ali?" Merlin asked the man.

"She was in the hospital, taking care of the injured when I saw her last, why do you ask?" He questioned, worrying about the answer.

"I have to say goodbye." Merlin stated matter-of-factly.

"Merlin, what are you planning. For once in your life, do not do something stupid. Magic can only get you so far!"

"Arthur, I have to do this. I am the only one who can stop, Morgana. You know that is true. It is my destiny to protect you. You are the once and future king, and I have faith in all you can accomplish. I would happily give my life to preserve the future that I know you will create." Merlin said solemnly, he touched Arthur's shoulder in a sign of friendship before running off towards the hospital. Arthur was about to follow when he was distracted by a sword swinging inches from his face, he cast one last glance in the direction that his friend had departed, before turning to fight his attacker.

Meanwhile, Merlin ran as fast as he could to the hospital. He pushed open the door and walked in, overwhelmed by the sounds of pain and the sight of blood that assaulted him. So many people had been hurt, and he was being selfish. The longer he took to face Morgana, the more lives would be lost. However, despite the sacrifice, he had to do this. He had to be selfish and say goodbye, and more importantly he had to save the life of the woman that he loved. He saw her standing by a man, gently washing the blood from his forehead and humming a soft tune to calm him down, his body wracked with sobs. Merlin was sure he had just fallen in love all over again. That is what had made Ali attractive to him in the first place. She had such a way with people, she was so caring. She genuinely loved other people and she always put them before herself, even if they were complete strangers. He took a moment to simply stare at her in awe. _How in the world did I get so lucky_, he asked himself?

Ali whispered something to the man that she was helping and stood up and moved over to the bucket of water to rinse the blood off of the towel she had been using on the man's forehead. As she rung out the cloth she looked up, rubbing the sweat from her brow and saw Merlin leaning against the doorway staring at her. She knew that she had a patient, but she could not contain her joy at seeing the love of her life standing, alive, in front of her. With all the fighting that had been going on outside she was worried that his body would be the next one brought into the hospital for her to treat. She dropped the cloth and ran into her lover's outstretched arms.

"Oh, Merlin," Ali sighed, "You do not even know how relieved I am to see you. I was sure you were lying dead in the streets somewhere out there. That is it. I am kidnapping you, you cannot ever leave this hospital again, I will simply not allow it. You are my hostage."

Merlin saw the fear in her eyes, and knew that what he was about to do would break her heart. He leaned down and pressed his lips tenderly to hers. She sighed and melted against him, lengthening the kiss. Merlin pulled away and looked into her eyes, grabbing her hands between his own.

"Ali…" he began.

"No, no, whatever it is, don't say it! Merlin, I know that nothing good is going to come out of your mouth. Please just don't." She sobbed.

He wiped the tears from her cheeks and kissed her forehead. "I am so sorry, Alais, but I have to do this. I cannot let these innocent people die, and I cannot let Arthur lose the throne. The future of Camelot is more important to me then than my life."

"But you are the most important thing to me. What will I possibly do without you? Merlin, I was nothing until you came into my life. What about the house, with the horses, and the kids learning sorcery and sword fighting while I cook dinner and you sit on Arthur's council? Those were not just my dreams, Merlin! Why would you give it all up after we have worked so hard?"

Merlin was shocked. Ali had always put others before herself. He was sure that after all of the sacrifices she had made in her life, this just seemed like one too many. "Ali, I promise you, it will be okay."

"How will it? How can it possibly be okay? I already told you, I cannot survive without you. I won't!"

"Ali, you won't remember. Only I will. I am sending you back to your world. Your time. You won't remember any of this. It will all be a mystery. A legend. The same legend you spent hours writing an essay about. You can go and live your life. Find a nice, normal man, raise kids in the city, and drive them to soccer in your minivan. You will live, and you will have a wonderful life, I know you will, but I cannot be a part of it. It doesn't matter how much I want to."

"No! I won't let you. I want to remember! I _need _to remember; nothing good happened in my life before you. Please let me stay. Stay with me! This is my home now. It always will be. You cannot take that away from me."

"I am so sorry," Merlin whispered as tears fell down his cheeks. He pulled her into a kiss. He was worried she would fight against him, but she melted into him just as she did every time they kissed. He deepened the kiss and his eyes turned gold. Ali felt a gust of wind and what seemed to be a large magnet pulling her away from Merlin. Their lips broke apart and she whipped around to see a large portal opening a few feet in front of her.

"No, Merlin!" Ali cried, reaching out to him. The wind was so loud she couldn't hear him, but she watched as the tears streamed down his face and she saw his lips form the words, "I love you." Ali looked down at her hand and watched as the ring on her finger began to disappear. She looked back at Merlin. The portal seemed to be closing and her view was getting smaller and smaller. Soon the love of her life and her home would be gone forever. Ali yelled, "Merlin, I love you!" and then, the world went black.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Thanks so much to all you who have read so far. I hope you have enjoyed it. This chapter is not quite as exciting in my opinion, but you need some exposition before the story right? Next time we will get back to Merlin and Arthur, but for this time enjoy a little Ali. By the way italics mean it is her dream. Thanks so much!**

****Chapter 1: Ali's POV

I groaned in frustration as I slammed the book in front of me shut. This was a little bit ridiculous. I mean I had been working on this essay for at least four hours and I had nothing good to go on. No ideas. I saw a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon one time that said that last minute panic was the best inspiration. Well, I guess I agreed because that was how I seemed to live my college life. Like any normal college student, when this paper was assigned I swore to myself that I would not procrastinate this time. It was like a New Year's resolution, for the first four hours I was really excited about it. But then, of course, something else came up and the paper sat abandoned on a shelf in the back of my very crowded mind. So, like most college students, the paper was due in less than 24 hours and I had no research and no idea where to even think about beginning. The library was providing no help whatsoever, so I pulled on my backpack, pushed in my chair, and walked into the sunny day.

I knew that I had a ton of homework to do, but I couldn't stay cooped up on a day like today, I told myself. I needed to take some time for me. It was the first day in a week that did not include rain and I was going to take advantage of every moment. I made my way to my favorite spot on campus. I sat on the small shady hill next to a large, very unclean, but still beautiful lake, and lay down. I love the outdoors, I decided, as I breathed in the fresh air and felt the slight breeze rustle the blades of grass beneath me. I pulled out my phone and pulled up Google, looking for information about my report. I mean, I might as well work a little bit_,_ I reasoned.

You see, my report was supposed to be a five page paper on the legend of King Arthur. Seems pretty easy right? No, not right. I was supposed to focus specifically on the friendship between Merlin and King Arthur. We were supposed to use a basis created by real legends, but we were also supposed to add our own twist to the story. A couple of problems however: one, these stories did not have a plethora of information about how close Arthur and Merlin were, and two, I am so not creative. I honestly do not think that I have a creative bone in my body. I thought multiple times about forcing my friend Mandy to write the paper for me. You see, she luckily enough was a theatre major, focusing on playwriting. Pulling a legend out of nowhere would have been the easiest thing ever for her. However, I knew that wasn't fair, so here I was, lying in the grass with my smartphone, forced to suffer through this assignment on my own.

Why couldn't it have been a test?I asked myself, probably for the first time ever in my life. I clicked on the first link that came up when I searched King Arthur and Merlin. The website it took me to was completely useless, talking only about the marvelous Arthur and mentioning Merlin in passing twice. And every link after was the same way. They all said that Merlin was Arthur's advisor and nothing more. How the heck was I supposed to write a five page paper about that though? So what? He gave Arthur some advice, big deal. That isn't a relationship worth five pages of paper. I scoffed and put down my phone. I was getting nowhere. I weighed the options in my head. Stress about it or take the F? I knew that even if I got a zero on the paper I would get a C in the class, which was of course a passing grade. I decided to cut my losses and take a nap. It was too nice to pass up. I dozed off there under the sun with the sound of birds chirping lulling me into a blanket of comfort and the tale of King Arthur and Merlin on my mind.

_I run across a field covered in little yellow flowers. I turn around quickly to sneak a peek behind me and I see a beautiful castle standing in the background. I am confused though and I can't quite figure out why, until I run into someone and their arms wrap around me. _

_ "Caught you." I hear a male voice laugh as the hands move from my hips to the sides of my face. "Do you surrender now, Ali?"_

_ "You know I won't give up that easily, my love." I giggle, as I rip his hands from my face and once again begin to sprint away. I run into a nearby forest and dash between trees and brush until I come to a large rock by a creek. I take cover behind the rock and watch for the man I know is following me. I am completely out of breath and I try to breathe quietly so that my hiding place can remain secret. I am so focused on watching for my predator that I do not notice the fountain of water rising behind me. I see him and prepare to run again when I am attacked from above by falling water. I scream shocked by the cold, and stand up yelling. "Merlin! How dare you use magic, that is cheating and you know it!"_

_ The man laughs at the sight of me standing in front of him, soaking wet. "I am sorry, my love, but I couldn't resist. You are always the one sneaking up on me, just this once I had to try it. You are right by the way, it is quite entertaining." I smack him on the arm as he puts his arms around my waist pulling me closer to him._

_ "You know I won't ever surrender. I will never let you win, Merlin. And you will get it for attacking me like that."_

_ "Oh, really. And what are you planning on doing to me? Are you going to put me in the stocks or make me do extra chores?" He asks as he moves one hand up to my face, brushing my wet hair out of my eyes and tucking it lovingly behind my ear. I fully intend to smack him again and run away, but I know that the moment he looks into my eyes I am not going to have the strength to move. He is mocking me and I know it, but I am lost. _

_ "I do love you, you know?" He says as he looks into my eyes. I nod, at a loss for words, as his head lowers and his lips touch mine. _

I awoke with a gasp. What in the world was happening? This assignment was definitely getting the best of me. I mean come on; I was in love with a man named Merlin? As if. I must admit though, the man that I saw in my head was far more attractive than the old man in the pictures I had seen in my research. I blushed as I thought of the kiss. I mean, I had my fair share of boyfriends, but the way that he looked at me and the feel of his lips on mine, even in a dream, those were the things most girls, including myself can only hope for.

I gathered my stuff and stood up. It was getting late and I needed to make my way back to my dorm. As I got up the wind blew wildly and almost knocked me over. I put my head down and started running as fast as I could. Before I could make it very far lightning flashed across the sky and I screamed. I hated thunderstorms more than anything and I was nowhere near home. The rain started to fall, wind continued to blow furiously, and the lightning was striking almost continuously through the sky. I had never seen anything like this and I had no idea what to do. I looked to my right and saw a large rock formation. It had been there for as long as I could remember but this time I saw something glowing inside a crevice in the rock. The crevice looked big enough for me to fit into and I was terrified so I ran toward it without a second thought. As I slipped inside I realized the crevice was a lot deeper than I had originally believed. It looked like it led into some type of cave. What was a cave doing on campus? That is strange. The light that I had seen seemed to be coming from somewhere deeper in the cave and so I decided to explore and see where it was coming from.

"Hello," I called waiting for a response. Someone had to have been the cause of the light right? I called out again, and again no one responded. I continued to walk into the cave and saw that about ten feet away it sloped down and then opened up into a larger room. I slipped through the opening and when I saw what was inside my jaw dropped to the floor. I was surrounded by glowing blue crystals. They were everywhere and they seemed to be humming, full of energy. I couldn't believe my eyes. There was a large crystal in the middle of the room, and curiosity pulled me toward it. I had to know what it was. I reached my hand out and walked closer until it was right in front of me. The humming seemed to grow even louder as I got closer, but that didn't stop me. I walked right up to the crystal and touched it. And then I was falling, through the floor and into an underground river. I had no idea what was happening, but I heard someone screaming, I can only assume it was me. The river was raging and tossing me this way and that. The water was ferocious and I was sure I was going to die. Darn curiosity, I had to touch the crystal and now I was never going to see the sun again. My world was coming to an end, I knew it. I screamed once more as the water crashed into me angrily and pushed me toward the wall. I closed my eyes waiting for the end and felt my head hit the stone, and the world went black.


End file.
